Garment shields are applied to the portions of garments under the armpits of the wearers to prevent garment soiling from the perspiration of the wearers. They consist of two types, namely, re-usable and disposable shields and in either type generally comprise a pair of multi-layer crescent shaped segments joined together at their concave edges. The re-usable shields are periodically removed from the garments, laundered and re-applied whereas disposable shields are discarded after a single use. Marketing tests have shown that the commercial success of this kind of product depends mainly on its price and that low price can significantly increase sales. As yet, dress shields have not attained the level of popularity as other sanitary products. Although disposable shields can be used in all cases, they are particularly useful in retail garment shops where a low cost convenient means is required to prevent loss profits from garment soiling.
As exemplified by the 1870 dress shield patent of Hotchkiss U.S. Pat. No. 108,908, the use of multi-layer materials for dress shields has been a long standing practice in the prior art. The multi-layer crescent shaped segments have consisted of single or multiple layers of moisture absorbent materials joined to single or multiple layers of moisture repellant materials joined to the moisture repellant layers by stitching, bonding or laminating.
With the foregoing in mind, an effective and convenient disposable garment shield made from a single sheet of material would have an important commercial advantage over the characteristic multi-layer shields of the prior art by substantially reducing the cost of the product in the price sensitive market.